head to head · open source
kafka vs dino
kafka has 34,117 GitHub stars, 15,657 forks, 574 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dino has 2,505 stars, 284 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. kafka leads on adoption by 1,262% (34,117 vs 2,505 stars). kafka is written in Java under Apache-2.0; dino is written in Vala under GPL-3.0. kafka has attracted 46% as many forks as stars, dino 11%. kafka was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| kafka | dino | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Vala |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 284 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick kafka if
- You weight community size — 34K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dino if
- You want the dino feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Vala
- You evaluated both and dino fits your workflow better
About kafka
Apache Kafka is an open source distributed event streaming platform used by thousands of companies for high performance data pipelines, streaming analytics, data integration, and mission critical applications. You need to have Java installed. We build and test Apache Kafka with Java versions 17 and 25. The release parameter in javac is set to 11 for the clients and streams modules, and 17 for the rest, ensuring compatibility with their respective minimum Java versions. Similarly, the release parameter in scalac is set to 11 for the streams modules and 17 for the rest. Scala 2.13 is the only supported version in…
read the full kafka overview →
About dino
Dino Dino is an XMPP messaging app for Linux using GTK and Vala. It supports calls, encryption, file transfers, group chats and more. Installation Have a look at the prebuilt packages. Build Make sure to install all dependencies. meson setup build meson compile C build build/main/dino Resources Check out the Dino website. Join our XMPP channel at chat@dino.im . The wiki provides additional information. Contribute Pull requests are welcome. These might be good first issues. Please discuss bigger changes in our channel first. Look at how to debug Dino before you report a bug. Help translating Dino into your…
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Frequently asked questions
Is kafka or dino more popular?
kafka has 34,117 GitHub stars and dino has 2,505. kafka has the larger community by that measure.
Are kafka and dino free?
Both are open source. kafka is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dino under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kafka and dino?
kafka is written in Java and dino in Vala. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, kafka or dino?
Choose kafka if you want the larger community (34,117 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dino if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.